Russia’s Mail.ru Hopes to Crack U.S. Market With Mobile Chat and Email Programs

Russian Internet company Mail.ru is making its foray into the U.S. market on Tuesday, announcing mail and chat programs for both iOS and Android.

MyMail is designed to offer an alternative to the built-in email programs on iOS and Android, while MyChat is another entrant into the crowded messaging space led by WhatsApp and other upstarts.

Dmitry Grishin, CEO of Mail.ru, told AllThingsD that he expects stiff competition but said that the company wants to make sure it is taking part in the U.S. market so it sees what the competition has to offer.

“We can learn a lot and compete with the best companies,” he said. Mail.ru has five people in an office in Mountain View for its new My.Com U.S. subsidiary, with plans to double that soon.

In addition to the chat and email apps, My.com will offer a collection of free games, with a handful of titles already launched, including Jungle Heat, Poker Arena and Lucky Fields.